Collateral

Year of release : 2004

Run time : 1h55min

Genre : Thriller / Neo Noir / Action

Cast : Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, Jada Pinkett Smith, Javier Bardem, Peter Berg

The movie was directed and produced by Michael Mann.

 

Max is a taxi driver in Los Angeles. He likes and works the night shift because it's more peaceful,and people are more relaxed. His dream is to start a limo company 'Island Limos' to drive celebrities around, and sees being a taxi driver as a means to an end.

He takes a woman to where she needs to go,and they start talking. He tells her about his dream,she tells him about a big case she has,and the state she's in right before the trial starts,like this very night.

He drops her off at her office,and accepts a new ride,the man who exchanged suitcases in the beginning of the movie.

The man, who introduces himself as Vincent, proposes him a deal, to take him around L.A., for 600 dollars, as he has 5 stops to make. An extra hundred,if he takes him to LAX to catch the plane.

Although,at first hesitant,Max accepts.

Waiting for Vincent, a man drops right on top of his taxi.

Vincent appears,and when Max confronts him,he confesses he shot him "the bullet and the fall killed him". Although Max wants nothing to do with him,Vincent takes him hostage,sort of,as he knows who he is and what he's done.

Detective Fanning comes to check on the dead man,and finds the door opened,window broken,and glass and water on the pavement outside.

As Max refuses to cooperate with Vincent's demands,he gets himself into trouble with some thieves,and Vincent k1lls them,as they stole his briefcase.

 

Fanning starts to investigate,and realizes the new victim is shot in the same way as two thugs brought to the morgue.

Max realizes the man he offered a ride to,is a contract k1ller,who is taking out the people enlisted on his computer. He finds out they are important pawns in a trail which starts in the morning.

This is one of my favorite movies, I have it on original videotape,it's always a joy to watch.

The actors are all great,the acting just flows.

Tom Cruise looks great with this look,I always thought it suits him.

For the fans,Jason Statham appears in the first scene of the movie,walking in the airport,bumping into Tom Cruise,exchanging suitcases.

The soundtrack is good,I didn't like the Jazz part,as I hate Jazz.

The movie grossed 220 million dollars against a budget of 65 million, and received critical acclaim, Jamie Foxx receiving a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and Golden Globe nomination. The movie was nominated for 6 BAFTAs, winning Best Cinematography, and was nominated for many more awards,winning some.

 

The National Board of Review chose Collateral as one of the top ten movies of 2004.

Cinema Score audiences rated the movie a B, on an A+ to F scale.

Russell Crowe and Adam Sandler were first considered to play the leads, while Val Kilmer to play the detective.

Collateral is for free on Kanopy, 7 days free on MGM+, Paramount+, Paramount+ on Prime Video, Paramount+ on AppleTv, Paramount+ on The Roku Channel, 5 days free on Philo, FuboTv and MGM+ on Prime Video.

Rating : It's so money!